After today's Tigers game, which aired on WXYT-FM, Valenti provided some insight on Foster's decision after the two had a couple of long conversations, especially one over the phone among the radio partners and Foster's wife, Adrienne.

"We wanted to do a retirement show, (but) he just felt it would be too much," Valenti said while seemingly trying to hold back tears. "That it would be too much emotionally, that it would be too taxing."

Foster, 58, suffered a stroke last year and missed several months on air. He returned in January, but Foster has decided to leave behind his radio career, citing a need to focus more on his health and family.

Terry Foster.

Terry Foster.

Courtesy of Freep/News "Double Coverage"

A natural question now becomes who will replace Foster on air from 2-6 p.m. Monday through Friday?

Valenti said he spoke with both Foster and WXYT management on the matter and that "his chair is going to stay empty for a while."

"I need to figure out what exactly am I going to be without him," he said. "Where does our show go? What does our show become without him?"

"That's his chair. And at some point down the line, we'll process, and go from there."

During the opening segment of today's show, Valenti said that Foster didn't want to be handled in a different way among his co-workers when he returned earlier this year.

"I want to do, 'the show,' and I don't want to be treated differently. ... And as Terry has said, he's not the same guy," Valenti said. "Terry felt pretty strong, that if he couldn't do 'the show' like the way we've done it and tried to deliver for you guys for 13 years, then he didn't want to do it."

Valenti reflected on how influential Foster was to his career in Detroit, which started in 2004 after graduating from and working at Michigan State.

"I was 23 when I started working with him, and I was nowhere near ready," Valenti said. "... And, he was my partner, and we went through a lot, and together we had some amazing success."

"It worked," he later said. "Our dysfunctionality is why it worked. We're two totally different people. And I'll always be grateful because he kind of pinned his hopes on a 23-year-old kid, and I think Terry is part of the reason I was accepted here."